More on the horizontal chain & revisting the rectangle

In digging 'round my knitting references, I discovered where I'd been exposed to the idea of the horizontal chain technique I've recently worked out.

My original thinking was that it must have come from some class or source I had for traveling stitches but it turns out that it comes from lace knitting and a Margaret Stove workshop.

While I was exposed to the idea that I could form a strong horizontal stitch while continuing to work in the established direction I didn't remember the technique or even recall where the idea came from in working my own bit out. Now that I've found the "it can be done source" it's clear that I don't work the stitch the way it is documented in Margaret's book and/or as taught briefly in the workshop.

To be honest, although I haven't reknit the original technique found in Margaret's book, I'm convinced that it would not work as well for my purposes as what I've come up with.

The what I've come up with bit has also caused me to revisit and rethink the "North/South" division of stitches technique I've been worrying for some time now.

Short version is that rather than cast on 2x the number of stitches required to work in either direction and dividing those to work in either direction, I'm casting on 1/2 that number of stitches and knitting a round/row. On the next round/row I'm using a specific increase technique to fill out the North & South gaps. I'm sure that's clear as mud and so it should be.

End of the day, I've used this technique to start a centre out rectangle without a provisional cast on and later weave/graft. That's what the photos in this post reflect and I've used exactly this technique in building the comfy chair. As it happens this remarkable bit of construction is hidden under a seat cushion in the chair so I worked another version and set it aside for later reference.